“My parents were never home, and we had no food, so agreeing to a union was a way of having a roof and food. Life as a married woman is different and more difficult than I imagined. ... I stopped my studies. Attending trainings from Plan helped me understand that even though I have a daughter, I can continue to have goals. I will teach my daughter to go to school. ... I learned that we, as women, have value.”
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The Greatest Challenges Girls Face Today
Impact highlights from Plan International's 1,610 active projects in 83 countries last year
Education
The greatest challenge: To ensure that girls can attend school and complete their education
Why: Today, about 120 million girls are out of school.
Spotlight: We’re helping 49,000 girls in Tanzania overcome barriers to gaining their secondary school diploma – and with it, the chance to earn up to 2x more income in future jobs. For example, we distributed 500 bikes so girls who live far from learning centres can safely commute and attend class!
Health
The greatest challenge: To ensure that teens can avoid unplanned pregnancies and exposure to sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS
Why: The number one killer of girls ages 15 to 19 is complications from early pregnancy or childbirth or a lack of access to health services.
Spotlight: When 12-year-old girls learn they are pregnant, their childhoods are stolen. We worked with them in Loreto, Peru, and the teen-pregnancy rate dropped 21 percentage points.
Protection From Violence
The greatest challenge: To end child, early and forced marriage, so that all girls have the freedom to choose if, when and whom to marry.
Why: Every year, 12 million girls under the age of 18 are forced to get married – that’s nearly one girl every two seconds. These girls leave school and are more at risk of violence and unplanned early pregnancies.
Spotlight: A 15-year-old’s wedding isn’t an event to celebrate. We helped stop 12,000 of them with our project in Ethiopia.
Humanitarian Response and Resilience
The greatest challenge: To ensure that children, especially girls, aren’t in jeopardy due to climate crises, conflict and an escalating hunger crisis
Why: Almost a quarter of the world’s children live in a conflict zone.
Spotlight: Last year, we distributed over 245,000 metric tons of food. That’s the equivalent of more than 15,400 eighteen-wheelers filled with food!
Youth Leadership and Economic Empowerment
The greatest challenge: To ensure that youth, especially young women, can earn a living and be independent
Why: An estimated 500 million youth ages 15 to 24 live on less than $2 a day.
Spotlight: Last year, 15,980 youths and adults participated in our microfinancing programs, and 37,040 received financial literacy and entrepreneurship training.
Impact highlights from Plan International's 1,610 active projects in 83 countries last year
Education
The greatest challenge: To ensure that girls can attend school and complete their education
Why: Today, about 120 million girls are out of school.
Spotlight: We’re helping 49,000 girls in Tanzania overcome barriers to gaining their secondary school diploma – and with it, the chance to earn up to 2x more income in future jobs. For example, we distributed 500 bikes so girls who live far from learning centres can safely commute and attend class!
Health
The greatest challenge: To ensure that teens can avoid unplanned pregnancies and exposure to sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS
Why: The number one killer of girls ages 15 to 19 is complications from early pregnancy or childbirth or a lack of access to health services.
Spotlight: When 12-year-old girls learn they are pregnant, their childhoods are stolen. We worked with them in Loreto, Peru, and the teen-pregnancy rate dropped 21 percentage points.
Protection From Violence
The greatest challenge: To end child, early and forced marriage, so that all girls have the freedom to choose if, when and whom to marry.
Why: Every year, 12 million girls under the age of 18 are forced to get married – that’s nearly one girl every two seconds. These girls leave school and are more at risk of violence and unplanned early pregnancies.
Spotlight: A 15-year-old’s wedding isn’t an event to celebrate. We helped stop 12,000 of them with our project in Ethiopia.
Humanitarian Response and Resilience
The greatest challenge: To ensure that children, especially girls, aren’t in jeopardy due to climate crises, conflict and an escalating hunger crisis
Why: Almost a quarter of the world’s children live in a conflict zone.
Spotlight: Last year, we distributed over 245,000 metric tons of food. That’s the equivalent of more than 15,400 eighteen-wheelers filled with food!
Youth Leadership and Economic Empowerment
The greatest challenge: To ensure that youth, especially young women, can earn a living and be independent
Why: An estimated 500 million youth ages 15 to 24 live on less than $2 a day.
Spotlight: Last year, 15,980 youths and adults participated in our microfinancing programs, and 37,040 received financial literacy and entrepreneurship training.
Watch the Video on the Five Areas of Expertise
We won’t stop until we are all equal!
Here are four reasons Plan International can and will create a more just and equal world for every girl and child.
1We’re global
Our teams stretch across three continents, working in 80+ countries and more than 55,000 communities worldwide. Most of our team members have grown up in the areas they work in, offering crucial insights to better understand and help address community challenges.
2We’re experienced
Since 1937, Plan International has been working with one goal: to help protect and improve the lives of every child. It’s what we’ve been doing for more than 85 years and continue to do today – adapting to the world’s most pressing challenges and evolving to meet girls’ greatest needs.
3 We’re strategic
We know that the most powerful way to increase the rights of all children and create healthier, more resilient and just communities is to champion girls’ equality. Transforming the world starts with girls – and it starts with removing the barriers that keep them from boldly stepping into their future.
4 We’re effective
83 cents of every dollar from donors in 2023 went directly to programs that reach children and their communities worldwide. The remaining 17 cents of every dollar went toward fundraising and operations to ensure that our programs run efficiently and effectively, prioritizing children’s rights and safety across all of our work.
Learn more about our work.
Last year, with the support of people like you responding to requests like this, we helped 22.2 million girls.
Meet two of them.
Sefora’s Second Chance
Sefora, from Guatemala, is one of the 12 million girls each year who are married before their 18th birthday. Since then, she says, she’s “not the same.”
Read more
Salma’s Big Dream
Where is Salma the happiest? “School,” she signs. However, it took her more than seven years to get there. She has been deaf and nonverbal since she and her twin sister caught measles when they were four years old.
Read more
The illness claimed her sister’s life and took away Salma’s ability to hear and speak. Her parents weren’t aware of any way she could get an education, until a teacher encouraged them to enrol her in his specialized class for children living with hearing impairments. At the same time, Salma participated in life-skills sessions offered by the Education in Crisis project in Nigeria, which boosted her confidence. What’s her new dream? “To become a teacher,” she signs. “I don’t think anything can stop me.”
Our Goal
To help improve the lives of 200 million girls worldwide in the next three
years
Help
us make it happen.
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